


we'll move heaven and earth

by QuoteMyFoot



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Roleswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-31 23:50:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20248675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteMyFoot/pseuds/QuoteMyFoot
Summary: Soren has always wanted to emulate their father, so Claudia lets him. But she can't just sit by and be idle, so she takes up the sword. The more things change, the more they stay the same.A Soren and Claudia roleswap AU. For the Dragon Prince Big Bang 2019, with this wonderful piece of art bythechocochick.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally inspired by [this artwork by joleanart](https://joleanart.tumblr.com/post/183902303474/finally-made-the-sorenclaudia-swap-au-ive-been).
> 
> And I need to point you again in the direction of [the chocochick's art for the bang!](https://thechocochick.tumblr.com/post/187011606855/im-a-part-of-the-tdp-big-bang-its-has-been-so) Look at those spooky colours!
> 
> Mega thanks to my friend [Wolflyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolflyn/pseuds/Wolflyn) for providing some last minute betaing <3

Father taught them both, at first, about magic: words to move the sky, the earth, fire and water, and all the elements between. He told them of dark magic, a gift to humankind in ages past, which made the elves so intensely jealous that they tossed them out.

Claudia drinks it all in and sings back the words, the signs, even if Father says that they aren't old enough yet to do magic for real.

Soren gets the words jumbled up and backwards, and his drawings are wiggly and untidy, barely recognisable as the symbols of the spells. Much easier to swing a sword—well, a training sword, anyway. It's just a bigger, heavier stick, and that's what Soren is good for – heavy lifting!

Claudia is the smart one. She knows things and does things, and Soren… moves things. Hits things.

She's like their dad, like that. Mother too. They're clever and they know things—Father even advises the king! The king's sole advisor, now that Queen Sarai is dead.

He knows that Mother doesn't like it. Father is away so often now, with research and advising and… those things… that smart advisors do. Smartly.

There aren't very many magic lessons any more. He tries to be kind to Mother, to talk about how much he misses Father being there too, misses the lessons and the pats on the head for trying—

Mother soothes his head and says, "Oh, Soren. I'm sorry that you miss your father so. I'll talk to him about making more time for you. But that's… that's not quite what I mean, sweet." She turned away and muttered under her breath, "The queen was right."

Soren doesn't think he was supposed to hear that last bit, because people don't tell Soren important things. He knows it was important because of the weight of it, the way that Mother's shoulders slumped under the words' burden.

He tries them quietly to himself later, but he can't taste the heaviness on them. The only weighty words that Soren knows are spells: words that strike with the power of any sword.

Soren practises in the training yard, swinging the sword, sparring, learning to parry and thrust and guard. His arms grow numb under the weight of all the blows. It feels the same as parroting his mother's words to himself in bed, unsure how to give them meaning.

* * *

Mother leaves.

Claudia knew it was coming, however much she wished to pretend she knew otherwise. Soren is devastated, trying to hide his tears by burying his face in Father's cloak. He could never choose anyone but their father, the best man in the world. He wouldn't let himself do differently, because Soren always does his best.

She wants to do her best, too, but the only way seems to be the tear herself in half. How can she choose between them? Father, Mother, how much has she relied on them both? There's no way—

It tumbles round her head like this in circles, and there doesn't seem to be an answer, until she sees the look on Soren's face when he asks Father to come teach them more magic, more about the history of Xadia: the only history lessons that Soren is able to stay awake for. She sees him light up like a beacon when Father crumples and says yes, and then Claudia _knows. _

She doesn't choose Mother or Father; she chooses Soren.

She watches in lessons and sees how much it means to Soren to hang on to their father's every word. She sees how much of himself he pours into learning magic, as much as it doesn't come naturally to him.

Soren is brave, and determined, and he has a big heart, but his heart isn't strong. Claudia can't take this away from him, even if she hears the magic calling to her. Saying goodbye to it feels like saying goodbye to her own mother.

But Claudia survived saying goodbye to her mother, and she knows she can survive this.

She drifts away from the lessons, pretending to grow bored, and sees Father's disappointment swallowed up by Soren's renewed enthusiasm. He absorbs everything Father can teach him about magic like a dry riverbed—at first the water seems to vanish, but Claudia knows that it's there, and the river will flow one day.

Wandering the halls, she sees the training yard that Soren used to fight in, and pauses.

Soren isn't strong. Even Father, sometimes, isn't strong—Claudia thinks of stripes of grey in his hair and the dark circles under his eyes and how much he leans on his staff on rainy days, complaining of aches.

Claudia is strong, though. Mother told her so.

She can be strong enough for both of them if she has to.

* * *

Years go by, and some things never change: Claudia is the responsible, level-headed sibling, the most trusted. She's still bookish Claudia who loses herself in daydreams and loves epic romance, who gets distracted by pretty butterflies and plans to save the day—who never fitted in with the palace guards, solid and stoic and (so Claudia says) _boring_. She had to learn to be aggressive, to repeat herself until she was heard, to be adaptable and able to fit into a rigid military mindset.

Soren is proud to be Viren's apprentice, but he never gets 'good' at dark magic. He has to study and study to keep up with Viren's expectations and often barely meets them. He's still proud of this personal tutelage under his father, but it's hard to be arrogant when you're still getting praise just for trying. Despite that, he's still a goof who likes to joke and tease his sister.

Claudia, though, was the only one entrusted with the knowledge of the Dragon Prince's egg and the power that slept inside. When Callum, Ezran, and the elf stole it away, Claudia ripped the chains out of the wall to follow them. Soren could only curse that he'd shown Callum the primal stone and the little nerd had gone and run off with it, but he doesn't need the primal stone to do magic. He always has bits and pieces of ingredients on him for dark magic, just in case Claudia ever needs him.

Claudia leads, and Soren lets her, feeling sometimes that he lives in her shadow. Claudia is his shield, and sometimes she thinks she could buckle from the weight of it. But she knows that Soren will always be right behind her, and he knows that she'll always be there to help him.

They're still Claudia and Soren, siblings-in-arms.

But Claudia is the one who's used to fighting, who has drawn blood before: when Father sends the two after the princes, it's to her that he says Callum and Ezran should never make it back alive. Soren's orders are to return with the egg at all costs, but Soren never asks what he should do if he had to choose between the egg and his sister, and Father never tells him how high the egg should come in his priorities. He doubts his son's resolve, his strength. Instead, he whispers in Claudia's ear as he sees the two of them off. '_Returning the egg is the most important thing. More important than you, more important than Soren. At any cost, Claudia.'_

Her eyes widen, and then she blinks, and she's back to normal. The information is filed away. Another burden for the responsible sibling. The more pressure Claudia feels, the straighter she stands.

* * *

Claudia goes to Soren after her talk with Viren, troubled in ways she doesn't know how she can begin to express. Or to whom she can say it.

She finds Soren in his favourite study spot, under the ancient tree in the courtyard.

"Did Dad say anything weird to you?"

"Ugh, _yes!" _Soren looks up from the book, pulling a disgusted face. "He said, 'A shortcut never leads to the right destination'. Like, does he even know what a shortcut _is?_"

Claudia laughs at his indignation, but her heart sinks. Soren doesn't know. Of course not. Dad lets Soren focus on his studies rather than asking for his help.

"I mean, look at this!" He shows her the book he's reading, jabbing his finger at the page. "This sentence is five lines long! That's at least three lines longer than any sentence has a right to be! What's wrong with a step by step guide, you know?"

The book is in a language that Claudia doesn't even recognise. Soren has another collection of books piled next to him – to reference when he finds a word he can't translate, probably.

She knows why Soren needs more free time and head-space to dedicate to his magic. She just wishes that… she could share some of her worries with him and make some more room in _her _head, sometimes.

"That's why I'm writing _this."_ Soren proudly pulls out a tome nearly as big as Claudia's shield, but when he flips through the pages, she sees that most of them are blank. "Soren's Big Book of Dark Magic! I'll show Dad. Anyone can do dark magic, I bet, if people would just write shorter books."

"It sounds great." Claudia smiles.

She means it, but somehow it still comes out wrong. Soren stills and closes his book. "What? Did Dad say something to you?"

He looks so concerned, leaning into the conversation and ignoring the books. The truth is on the tip of her tongue.

"Oh, it's nothing," she says. Soren slumps in his seat, and she moves the pile of books to sit next to him. "But tell me more about your book! Did you put the pancake recipe in there yet?"

* * *

Soren manages to find the ingredients for the tracking spell, although he insists that his shoulders are 'too broad' to squeeze into the cave to collect pyreflies, and he makes Claudia shed her breastplate so that she can catch some in a jar. Claudia rolls her eyes, but it's beyond worth it when she sees the display in the middle of the cave.

For a moment she stands there and breathes, and the air is full of _magic. _

Then she remembers her duty, and the magic is gone.

But Soren grins at her outside, pausing in the middle of swishing his cloak—"All mages need a good swish, Claudia," he told her once—and grins at her. "It was good, right? Right?! I knew you'd like that sort of glowy stuff 'cause you're a girl."

Claudia rolls her eyes. "You're probably just scared of the dark. Now where do we have to take these? Let me carry them, I'm not going back in there if you drop the jar."

She makes sure Soren isn't watching later when she hugs the jar to her chest, the pyreflies leaving spots before her eyes as she watches them dance. _Brothers are stupid, _she thinks, smiling so wide she hurts her face, _and Soren is the stupidest of the lot. _

The spell he makes with them on top of the highest mountain is even more beautiful in its own way. Of course it's sad that the pretty pyreflies had to be burned up to make the magic work, but what it _represents…_

She still remembers Father's history lectures when he first started teaching them both dark magic. Claudia's sword and shield serve as a comfort to her, and she has to admit that she sees the appeal of having a power all your own, something neither borrowed nor stolen—but all the swordplay in the world means little against the powers that elves and dragons were born with. Humans have done all they can to even the balance of power.

The tracking spell is proof that they're more than a match for a bloodthirsty moonshadow elf. They can track down Callum and Ezran, and—

—and see to it that they never come home.

All the light of wonder in her heart is smothered under guilt, pushing down on her shoulders. How could she forget? War is never wonderful. It's awful and bloody. That's something that she learned from her fellow soldiers, not from Dad—something she learned for herself, with blood on her sword and on her hands. Dad must know, of course; he's been serving the king for years! He was there when the Queens of Duren and Queen Sarai fell in battle!

He must know the costs. She can't believe that he came to this decision lightly. He really must think that it's the best for Katolis, and Claudia trusts him.

...But it's Callum, who never took to swords at all, but always showed up for training with Claudia, always taking her seriously. Training with him was the first time she could be _Claudia _and _Deputy Captain of the Royal Guard _at the same time without betraying one or the other.

And Ez—she remembers watching him learning to steal jelly tarts from the moment he could walk. He was cheerful and cute and Claudia could never help but turn a blind eye to his terrible pastry-stealing habit. And now he was her king. _King _Ezran. Every vow she'd ever made as a soldier was about protecting him and the people of Katolis.

_Queen Sarai was willing to die for her people—I'm sure Ez would want to protect the country, too._

It's a hollow excuse. The queen _chose, _and Ezran is just a kid—

"Claudia? Helloooo!"

Claudia comes out of her head with a suddenness that reminds her of being dunked in a bucket of ice water. She didn't realise how cold she was. "What?"

Soren puts his hands on his hips, unimpressed. "Uh, pretty lighty tracky thingies? We're supposed to be following them? I worked real hard on that spell, you know."

"Right." Claudia tries to smile, but it dies somewhere in her throat. She stands and brushes the snow from her shoulders instead. "I don't think we're that far away if we travel cross-country. We could catch up with them in a matter of days if we push the pace—"

Soren groans. "Ughhh, my butt is already sore from all the riding we did to get _here! _Can't we take it easy now that we know where they are?"

"If we leave it too long we'll just lose the trail again!" Claudia scowls and yanks him to his feet. It's easy to fall back into soldier-sister mode, to pretend like nothing's wrong. "Your butt will hurt much more if I have to kick your ass to get you moving!"

Soren, the oblivious dork, grins. "Ooh, good play on words! I should write that one down."

Her mouth betrays her by twitching, despite her best efforts. Recruits in the training yard? She could scowl at them all day long. Soren is a different story.

He sighs exaggeratedly and starts packing away the materials he used for the spell. "Alright, alright, no ass-kicking required! Anyway, I was only kidding. I can't believe that twerp stole my primal stone. He's going to get it when I catch up to him..."

She knows her brother is all bark and no bite. (Well, only a teensy weensy bit of bite, not breaking the skin or anything. Like a puppy gnawing on your shoe! Except Soren is more or less housebroken.) Even if Callum broke the primal stone completely, Soren would only grouch at him a bit—he doesn't mean what he says.

The trouble is, she thinks she doesn't mean it either.

_Dad said. Dad said I had to. Said it was important, for everybody's sake—_

And yet…


	2. Chapter 2

Following the magic signal to the mountain took them several days of hard labour, and Claudia expected they would have to pick up the trail again when they got there. She expected to have more time to pour over her thoughts.

But then Soren grabs her by the elbow, hissing, "_Elf!"_ under his breath and drags her into some bushes. By a miracle, the elf doesn't seem to spot them. Callum and Ezran are nowhere to be seen. The assassin couldn't possibly have already…?

The thought should be a relief to Claudia. The necessary act for the safety of the kingdom has been finished, and she didn't have to look the boys in the eyes to do it. Instead, it's like something dark and cold has swallowed her insides. If the elf hurt them at all—

If the elf hurt them at all, Claudia will be a furious hypocrite.

"I've got a sleeping spell," Soren whispers. "Give me two seconds."

Claudia is so used to seeing Soren the dork that it's a bit unnerving to watch him focused and totally serious, weaving the magic at lightning speed like—well, just like Dad.

The elf slumps near the rose bush and Claudia rests a hand on her sword. It hasn't felt so heavy in a long time. She ought to kill her anyway—she's just an elf. An elf who came to kill King Harrow and Prince Ezran…

But Dad's orders itch in her brain and stay her hand. More important than getting rid of the elf, she has to _know. _"She's not important," she says to Soren, nudging him along. "We need to find the princes and the egg."

They press on and the forest eventually gives way to a clearing, where…

Claudia's breath catches in her throat.

"Rayla! Ray—oh." Callum's entire face lights up when he spots her. He's never been afraid of her, even after she disarmed him a dozen times. "Claudia! Soren! What are you guys doing here?"

She doesn't want to know what he'd look like if he _was _afraid of her.

"What sort of question is _that?_" Soren snorts. "We came to rescue you and Ez, dummy. And get my primal stone back," he adds as an afterthought.

_Returning the egg is the most important thing. More important… _

"Oh. Right." Callum laughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, uh—funny story about that…"

Using every inch of height he has over Callum, Soren strides forward menacingly. "If you've broken the primal stone, I swear—"

Claudia pinches the bridge of her nose. _Soren always sounds so over the top when he does this._

But Callum, the idiot, falls for it every time. "Itwasforagoodcause! Babydragon!"

Soren stops, confused. "...What?"

It takes a moment for the words to filter through Claudia's brain, and then— "Wait, Callum! Are you saying…?"

"What is he saying?" Soren asks her plaintively.

"I mean, it was always going to happen at some point!" Callum says. "Just. This is, uh. Sooner than expected!"

"What did you _say?_"

_This changes things… _How is she supposed to get a baby dragon home? Not just any baby dragon, but supposedly the most powerful dragon there had _ever been._

"What do I do now?" she mumbles to herself.

"Seriously," Soren whines, "I have _no _idea what _anybody _is talking about!"

"He's trying to tell you that your stolen egg _hatched!_" a voice calls from behind them.

Claudia whirls around, drawing her sword and readying her shield, but the elf holds her blades loosely at her sides and makes no move to attack.

Instead, she smirks. "And Callum broke the primal stone to do it."

"I was trying to break it to you gently!" comes Callum's quavering voice. "Please don't hurt me..."

Soren glares at the elf. "Don't worry, I'll only hurt you _after _we defend you from the elf assassin."

"Uh oh," Claudia hears Callum say.

And the next thing she knows, he's pushed through the both of them.

"Listen, she's actually not an assassin!" he says, waving his arms frantically in front of their faces. He pauses. "Well… I guess she is… but she's a bad one! I mean a good one! No, I mean—"

Soren sighs deeply. "Use your small words, Callum."

He takes an enormous breath and lets it out again. "What I'm trying to say is… she's not a bad elf! She's our friend. Just like you guys. So… it would be nice if you all could get along."

Claudia flinches without meaning to. Just like Claudia, except what kind of friend is _she? _

"Wait, wait!" Soren's face screws up in concentration and he holds his hands up. "There's a name for this, I know it…"

"Friendship?" Callum suggests hopefully.

"No! It's uh… some kinda syndrome… Claudia, what is it called?"

"I don't know," she says, feeling hollow.

To her, it seems as though her voice echoes, but the others don't notice. Soren just curses under his breath and continues arguing with Callum. After a minute, the elf joins in. Their voices blur around her, making her head swim.

What can she do? Even if Dad is right, there's no way that she can kill Callum or Ezran – the mere sight of Callum's soft, imploring look makes it impossible. And… she can't help but feel that… maybe Dad _isn't _right on this one. She knows that he has Katolis's best interests at heart, but maybe he's just—not seeing the whole picture.

Then she hears Callum say, "That's why we have to take the Dragon Prince back to Xadia with Rayla! So that there won't be any more fighting!" and it's like the sun breaking through the clouds.

Dad doesn't _need _the princes dead—he just needs them out of the way until things are stable, so his authority can go unquestioned and he can ensure Katolis's survival. And whilst she isn't naive enough to think the elves and dragons are going to stop persecuting humans because of Callum's and Ezran's efforts, she's sure it must do _something. _It's such a big gesture that there would have to be a talk. Maybe a peace treaty, if just a temporary one. And then they could go home, and Dad would be able to focus on teaching Ezran everything he needs to know for the next time the Xadians attack humans.

_But what if—_ Claudia's mind whispers, but she shuts it down.

"Enough!" she says, silencing the whole party. "There's no point in arguing this here in the middle of the night. Callum, I… I'm glad that the elf isn't as cruel as we imagined. But she _did _attack the castle. We can't trust her immediately, _because _you're our friend. Okay? Why don't we sleep on this and talk more tomorrow?"

"I..." Callum's eyes slide towards the elf, but as usual when Claudia made a suggestion, his objections die before they make it out of his mouth. "Well… maybe when we're better rested..."

Soren opens his mouth, but luckily the elf starts to complain as well, and he's distracted enough by scowling at her that Claudia has time to swoop in and link her arm through his, dragging him out of earshot before he can say anything like—

"_Attacked the castle?_" he hisses. "Claudia, they killed King Harrow!"

"I know, but we can't tell them yet! You can't just spring that on Callum in the middle of the night!" she whispers back.

Besides which, she knows that if Ezran finds out that his father is dead… he'll know that he's supposed to go back home. He might not want to, but he'll feel like it's his duty. But more than anything else, he can't go home. Katolis doesn't need a boy king right now, and Dad—

Well, of course Dad couldn't hurt Ezran if he was right in front of him. He's practically Ezran's uncle; it must've been so hard for him to ask Claudia to do this in the first place. But Ezran _would_ disrupt Dad's plans, and maybe someone else would get it into their heads to help him by getting rid of the 'problem'…

Better for everyone if Ezran and Callum just stay out of the way.

Claudia just has to think of a way to make it happen without letting on all the troubles going on at home, or letting Soren become burdened by all of Dad's worries…

For someone who Dad trusts with all of his plans, this should be easy for her, right?

* * *

Soren is dead certain that something fishy is going on with Claudia and Callum.

First, there's the thing where she just instantly believed the dumb kid when he said that the elven assassin was actually a real good person. Which just doesn't make any sense! Not only is she an elf, but she's an _assassin! _That's like, a double whammy of being a bad guy. Who agrees to kill kids for any reason? Bad elves, that's who.

Then there's the way she was at breakfast this morning. All cosying up to Callum and everything. She didn't even praise Soren's pancakes like she usually does. And then Callum offers to show her this moon nexus which, for a start, your old mage pal Soren is _right there, Callum. _Also uh, hello? This is Claudia? Claudia is so bored by magic she didn't even keep up with _Dad's _lessons? Why is she suddenly interested in listening to the dorky step-prince talk to her about it? It makes no sense!

And it's also left Soren to hang out with Ezran and the stupid elf all day. Talk about awkward. Ezran is… kind of cute for a kid… he supposes… but every time Soren looks at him he feels on the edge of just blurting out, _Hey your dad is dead by the way! _Of course Claudia is right and that's not the right way to tell them both, but… Claudia is the one who's good at this kind of thing, not Soren. How could she just leave him alone like this?

All in all, it's not a super good time for him.

...But at least that dragon _is so tiny and adorable!_

Not that Soren, a manly man, is won over by those _incredibly cute _eyes or the _super loveable _clumsiness of the Dragon Prince, the heir of the most dangerous enemy humanity has ever known. He, of course, knows to be on his guard around such a creature. Even if it is so very, very _small_.

"Hey, Soren?" Ezran asks. "Are you sure this chair thing is safe? Zym is worried."

The baby dragon looks at Soren with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, squeaking excitedly.

"...Sure," Soren says. "I'll go first, just to prove it to… Zym."

He should tell Ez to suck it up and be brave, but—_your Dad is dead. _He's gonna have to go back and do kingly stuff soon. Soren doesn't know much about kingly stuff, except that it sucks and it's really, really hard. He's been working his whole life to try to live up to Dad's example, but Dad never thinks he's ready. He sends Soren back to the books again and again and _Claudia _is always the one running errands and being taken into his confidence.

Soren's not a dummy. He knows when he's being excluded. He just doesn't know _why._ What makes Claudia so much better than him?

He hoped that if he worked hard enough, by the time Ezran came to the throne, he'd be as good a mage as Dad ever was and Dad could retire and finally sleep eight hours a night like a normal person and Soren would be the most trusted advisor and—

But there had to be stupid elf assassins and a crisis and no, Soren is more or less useless. Claudia has to be planning something but she can't just _tell _him.

The whole thing is dumb.

Might as well make stupid chair slides over the canyon. Uh… wait, could this be considered endangering the king…?

_Whatever, _Soren thinks grouchily, putting himself into the chair under the watchful eyes of the paranoid elf. _If they think I'm such an idiot who can't handle any responsibility, then fine. I'll act like it._

* * *

The moon nexus is honestly really beautiful. Claudia could spend hours looking at it. If only she'd continued her magic studies, she might know more about it than how pretty it looks. In another life, maybe she could've…

"Claudia, you okay?"

She shakes her head and makes an effort to smile. "Sorry, I was just thinking. So this elf guardian… she just showed you this?"

"That's right!" Callum says. "I think she was, uh, lonely or something, you know? She told me a lot of stuff about magic..."

Claudia doubts that an elf decided just to trust a human because she was _lonely, _but this is a good sign—a guardian of a site like the nexus, which seems to be really important, has to be highly respected in Xadia. Callum must have made a good impression on her, which only bodes well for this mission of his. And means it's safer for him to be in Xadia rather than at home…

"She's a moonshadow elf like… Rayla, right?" she says, prompting Callum to continue.

He's more than happy to oblige, telling her about the confusing lesson of Lujanne and the history of the moon nexus and illusions and the six primal sources—

He seems to really like magic. _It's a shame Soren was always too busy to teach anybody, _she thinks. _Callum would've liked that much more than the sword and shield. _

But she supposed there are also things expected of a prince, just as she has expectations, too.

That's why it's absolutely _vital _Callum doesn't learn about Harrow's death. If he learns of it, of course he'll have to break it to Ezran. And if he tells Ezran, Ezran will feel that he's expected to go home. If he goes home…

She has to push Callum to go without it looking like she's pushing him to go. But even though this is what is best, she feels terrible—lying to Callum, lying to _Dad _when she gets home… and the truth will come out at some point. At least _one _of them is going to be disappointed in her. Maybe both of them.

She licks her lips, trying to attend to Callum's enthusiastic lecture. This is all for the best. They'll see that eventually.

They just… they _have_ to.

_Don't make me choose. _

"It sounds really exciting," she says, something she can be honest about. "I guess your elf friend must take it all for granted, right? Since there's so much magic in Xadia."

"Yeah. Yeah!" Callum grins at her. "I'm glad you understand, Claudia! It's nice to someone who gets how amazing it really is!" He looks out over the nexus, lit up in the moonlight, and his eyes grow distant. "I wonder what it's like in Xadia, if magic is as common as Rayla says..."

"I guess it would be interesting to see," Claudia replies, keeping her voice coolly neutral even though her heart is pounding inside her chest, "but your place is at home."

Callum frowns, just a touch, and she feels triumphant. She knows that look—the stubbornness. He's resolved to go.

* * *

After a day of cooling their heels, Soren confronts Claudia, not quite spitting mad but at least halfway there. Drooling mad? No, that doesn't sound right at all.

"What are we doing?" he hisses. "We're supposed to be getting them to come back, but I don't see how this is helping!"

('Don't see', because Soren is always sure that Claudia knows what she's doing, really; he's just mad at being left out of the plans. 'We', because he still thinks of them as a unit. Soren and Claudia, brother and sister. That's just how it is.

_So why won't you tell me?_)

Claudia sighs in a way that makes him think so much of Dad, thoughts of 'why don't you get this?' and 'not as good as I hoped'—never vocalised, but loud all the same. "I'm trying to win their trust, Soren. You don't want to be fighting them the whole way back, do you? Or for them to leave again as soon as we make it home?"

Under the pressure, Soren's courage buckles. "Well—no…"

"And we didn't make a good impression by attacking their elf friend as soon as we got here. Or, uh, what happened back in Katolis."

"We had every reason to think she was up to no good," Soren mutters.

It's as good as admitting she's right. _Claudia always knows best. _She sits next to him with a gentle smile. He recognises it immediately—it's the 'explain things to Soren without hurting his feelings' smile. "I know, but Callum doesn't see it that way. Rayla is his friend and he trusts her."

"I can't believe he trusts her more than _us, _though!" Soren scowls, folding his arms. "We've known him and Ezran for, uh, _literally their entire lives! _We shouldn't have to prove they can trust us!"

But no, Claudia has to go through with this stupid plan because stupid Callum is stupid—

Her expression falters for just a second.

Just one. Then she shrugs and says, "Things can't always be easy, Soren."

It sounds like something Dad would say, only less fancy-like. Claudia really should've learned magic, and then she could've been like Dad in every way. And Soren…

Soren would still be Soren, but maybe it wouldn't be so disappointing to be Soren then.

He sighs. "Okay, okay, _fine._ But I'm not opposed to using the magic tentacle in emergencies, you know."

"The—the _what?"_

That did sound kind of bad when put like that. Soren coughs to cover his embarrassment. "Never mind, Claud. It's uh… a mage-y thing, you wouldn't understand."

She laughs, a proper laugh that's just Claudia and not Dad at all. "Uh huh. Sure. Well, I'll remember to call on you if I need to."

_But I won't need to, _she doesn't bother to add. Like always. But no matter what Claudia thinks—or what Dad thinks—there must be some way for Soren to be useful.

* * *

He has a chance the next morning. Callum is being all goofy and daydream-y and, well, like Callum usually is, which means the nexus thing was totally his idea of a date and he thinks it went well. _How dare he show my sister a good time?! Who does he think he is? The King's brother—? Wait no he can't think he's the king's brother because he doesn't know that… the king is..._

The idea pops into Soren's head with the brightness of a hundred pyreflies. Claudia said that Callum and Ezran have to trust them, right? And that they trust Rayla more than them right now, right?

But Rayla didn't tell them about the king's death. And she _must _know, because she's got one of those magic ritual moonshadow tie-thingies around her wrist, 'cause elves think that if you're not good at assassining one time you need to lose a limb so you can never assassin again. Or something.

_...That ritual is stupid, _Soren thinks.

Even if it is stupid, it's _useful _stupid, because now they've got perfect proof that Rayla kept something back from the princes because she really is an evil, no-good elf who can't be trusted, unlike Soren and Claudia, who are the most trustworthy friends who ever trusted or worthy! It's _foolproof._

Soren just has to find a nice, gentle way of breaking the king's death to Callum.

"Hey, dumbass."

Callum blinks, as though seeing Soren for the first time. "Uhh?"

_Nailed it! _Soren nods to himself. Everything is going well so far. "Let's go over there! I've got something to tell you."

Callum looks at the bushes Soren points to, frowning. "No offence, but this seems kind of suspicious as a set up."

Damn. Claudia was so right; Callum really _does _trust them less than Rayla. _How can he think so badly of me? I only let him walk into trees when it was __**really **__funny. It's like he doesn't know us any more!_

But Soren doesn't know how to say, 'well this is kind of personal so I thought maybe you'd want some privacy,' so instead he says, "Ugh, just come with me and stop being annoying."

Callum rolls his eyes and holds up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Fine, fine! But I swear if this is another lecture about breaking your primal stone..."

* * *

Claudia, by some instinct, knows that something has gone wrong as soon as she sees Callum sniffling and rubbing red eyes.

She freezes, her mind a whirlwind of panic. Soren. Soren couldn't have—? He wouldn't have told them. He has trouble finding the right words for those kinds of things. He always says so. He wouldn't—

_But he was impatient! You knew he was! You should've made sure…_

Only the one way to be sure Soren didn't mess up her plans would've been to tell him everything. And Claudia—Claudia just can't. She's tried a few times, when they were tracking the princes down, but the words always got clogged in her throat by guilt and fear. _What if Soren hates me for even thinking about it? What if he's disappointed in Dad? What if he thinks Dad is __**right?**_

She didn't know what would be worse, so she'd been paralysed.

But now here is Callum and she has to do _something—_

He sniffs again, blinking at her, and she realises she's just been staring at him. All he'll know is that he's lost his dad, _and she didn't tell him. _

"Callum," she says softly, stepping closer, "Callum, I'm sorry. I just—I just—"

"It's okay." He gives her a weak smile. "I know why you didn't tell me."

She pauses. "You do?"

Claudia has no idea how he could possibly have guessed, but the sudden thought of someone that she could unburden herself too, someone who would _understand, _leaves her nearly dizzy. Callum has always seemed to understand bits of her that other people don't. _Actually, this could work, we can—_

"Yeah," Callum answers, "I tried to tell Ez and I… I just couldn't do it. He's so happy playing with Zym and I guess it's all like an adventure to him and..." He sighs. "I know I should be honest, but it's going to crush him, you know? I just can't do it."

Claudia's heart sinks lower and lower with every word. How stupid. Of course Callum would never guess that Viren, who's been like an uncle to him and Ezran, would want him dead—even if Dad only has Katolis's best intentions at heart. And why would he ever guess that Claudia is surrounded by pitfalls, constantly afraid of falling into something dark and dangerous she'll never escape from?

"Claudia? It's okay, really! Don't look like that! I forgive you."

After all, no one else ever seems to realise.

"Thanks, Callum," she says, trying to put the feeling into the sentence that he deserves. "I'm really… glad that there's no hard feelings."

_It's fine. See, the way he talked about Ezran and the 'adventure', it's fine, this plan will still work._


	3. Chapter 3

_It's fine. _

Finally, it comes down to the confrontation that Claudia was hoping for. Callum says that they're still going to Xadia, and he wants Claudia and Soren to come with them. Claudia is relieved, or at least she's pretty sure she is—it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on the tension in her back.

_It will be fine. _

"I know you said not to," Soren whispers, "but we really _do _gotta drag them back now, right?"

"I suppose so," Claudia replies. She's already thought of a couple of ways for them to lose without it being obvious that she's doing it on purpose. At least, she hopes it won't be obvious…

But it turns out that the moonshadow elves, with their illusion magic, are cleverer than Claudia thought. The real group – the Princes, Rayla, Bait and Zym – makes an escape on the back of the illusionist's phoenix, and Claudia is left on the ground with Soren.

She lets out a long, slow breath. _Time to go—_

"Ugh, I'm not being outsmarted by some old lady." Soren snarls, and opens his pack. "_You stupid princes, get back here!"_

"Soren, what are you doing?" Claudia demands, panicked, but he's already pulled a small box from his pack.

He rips off the lid and she has a glimpse of a red tentacle that smells vile—_that's what he meant. _She should've paid more attention.

"Soren—"

Her words die in her throat as she chokes on the weight of the magic in the air. Soren's eyes glow as he grabs the tentacle and the magic becomes tangible, _real, _sending a shudder down Claudia's spine. The air is slimy and needy, and she has the phantom sensation of chill feelers running across her face.

But she's not the magic's prey.

At Soren's command, the magic rushes out, red and ominous, grasping suckers wrapping around the phoenix and holding it in place. The bird's squawk of dismay almost matches Callum's and Ezran's cries.

Claudia freezes with her hand on her sword. She's trained to defend the royal family her whole life; she didn't even think about it. But it's _Soren _(and Dad, it's always Viren, at the end of everything).

_What do I do what do I—_

But the answer really is simple because she can't let this happen, she _can't. _

She tackles Soren to the ground. He automatically opens his hands to catch his fall, letting the tentacle slip from his fingers. Claudia winces when he lets out a pained grunt as he gets crushed under the weight of her armour, but the magic falls away and the atmosphere feels as light as the beautiful sunset deserves—

And a chain whistles through the space they stood in a moment before.

Claudia stumbles to her feet, confused about the sudden attack. She lost her shield tackling Soren but she manages to raise her sword only to meet the eyes of an equally confused…

_But Corvus is General Amaya's man. What's he doing here?_

"Claudia, what the hell?" Soren shouts. "They're gonna get away!"

Corvus's attention switches instantly to Soren. "Why were you attacking the princes?"

Claudia carefully takes a few steps to put herself between the two of them, even though Soren undoes her hard work by poking his head around her body to yell back, "Uh, _who_ are you?!"

_Soren, you dummy! He's got a long range weapon, I can't protect you if he decides to throw it straight at your head!_

Corvus frowns at Soren and Claudia by turn. "Why _weren't _you attacking the princes?" he demands of Claudia. "What are you even doing here in the first place?"

"Dad sent us to bring the princes home!"

"Well, the General charged me with their protection," Corvus says. "Even if I didn't expect to have to defend them from their old _friends._"

Claudia focuses on the feel of the hilt of her sword, the weight and balance, the comfortable fit into the calluses she's earned over years and years.

"We're not attacking them! It's for their own good!" Soren protests. "Well, _I _was, anyway. I don't know what Claudia was doing."

And Corvus's eyes shift to her again, sharp and piercing. "What is really going on here?"

Claudia breathes in and out. Again. Again. _Don't panic, don't panic. Remember your training. Panic is the death of planning. _

"I..." Her mouth is dry. She swallows and tries again. "Our mission… _was _to bring the princes home." She's not sure if Corvus saw the dragon, so she neglects to mention it. Right now, she needs Corvus to trust them—if he chooses to fight, she isn't sure that she could win. She's trained until she was one of the best, but Corvus is a war veteran of General Amaya's personal retinue.

"Was?" Corvus asks.

"Was?" Soren echoes.

Claudia has to find a way to play this off. If Viren—if Dad finds out she disobeyed orders, he'll be mad. He might send out someone else to try again, someone who doesn't know Callum and Ezran. He'll be disappointed in her.

It has to look… right.

"I… suspected… when we were leaving… that maybe the capital wouldn't be the safest place for the princes," she says. "Father's—I mean, Lord Viren's orders were to bring them home, but I… I thought he might've underestimated the danger..."

She sees Corvus's arm relax slightly. He still looks battle ready, but he's no longer serious about fighting them. _He believes her. _

"Wait, but Claud," Soren protests. "Why did you say anything?"

"Well, we thought an elven assassin had kidnapped them for who knows what!" she snaps.

Her sudden anger takes even her by surprise. Soren wilts and Corvus snaps back to attention. She winces and tries to reign herself in, even if suddenly everything is boiling under the surface—what Dad wants, what Soren wants, what _she _wants, the war and the elf and Callum and Ez and every moment of doubt or panic or being torn between two opposing forces, never being able to fulfil them both—

Claudia takes a deep breath. At least her sword arm isn't shaking. She can be proud of that, at least. "We _thought_ that, but… the elf—well, Rayla seems to really be their friend. She hasn't hurt them." She looks Corvus dead in the eye. "I mean, _you _saw. They left with her voluntarily."

Corvus's face is blank, but she instinctually feels that he's studying her. "So," he nearly drawls, voice neutral, "when you discovered that, the capital became the more dangerous place for the princes to be."

Claudia nods, holding her breath.

Corvus glares at Soren.

"Don't look at _me!_ She didn't tell _me _any of this!"

Claudia winces at the accusation in his words, but Corvus must hear a ring of truth in them, because he finally relaxes completely, lowering his weapon. She follows suit and sheaths hers, finally feeling the vice grip around her chest relax a little.

"What, so that's it? We're just… letting them go?"

Now that she doesn't have to face Corvus, Claudia reluctantly turns to look at her brother. She braces herself for betrayal or something worse that she can't even _imagine—_but instead he just looks sullen and listless.

He rolls his eyes. "Sure. Fine then. Claudia _always_ knows best, after all."

She draws back a little, hurt and confused but with no idea how to explain herself. _I'm trying to protect you,_ she wants to say. _You don't want to have to choose like this. I don't want you to ever have to choose like this._

Claudia wants to say it, and it is true, but—she's also been afraid that Soren will hate her, hate Dad, if he knows she even considered for a second…

But if he's going to hate her anyway, she doesn't know what she'll do.

She reaches out as though to grab his shoulder.

"We should send word about this," Corvus says, and Claudia pulls her hand back to her chest, feeling it compressed again. "The General, at least, will want to know the princes are safe."

Soren isn't even looking at her, but it's probably for the best, because she must be as white as a sheet. She's only glad that Corvus can't see her.

"Of course," Claudia says. Despite her best efforts, she can't keep her voice completely steady. "We'll make for the nearest town."

"Nearest town is a long way away," Corvus says lightly. "I hope you aren't bothered by company on the road."

Claudia doesn't—can't—say anything.

_Dad is going to find out._

Unless she can think of something on the way there. There must be some way she can fix this…

"Whatever," Soren says.

He probably means it in response to Corvus, but Claudia can't help but feel like it's directed at her, too.

_I don't want to choose between Callum and Ezran and Dad._

There must be some way, but Claudia is at a loss.

* * *

Soren thinks the pace that Corvus sets is kind of excessive, since their 'urgent mission' turned out to be a waste of time, and who really wants to hear about that? But he barely complains at all, because he is _such _a good sport, and doesn't mind _at all_ about being constantly left out of plans, being told nothing, treated like a total imbecile, et cetera.

Do people think he just lucked his way into being an expert at dark magic? Uh, no way, he had to look up _so _many long words to get good at that, he deserves more credit!

He repeats this to himself a lot, because it's really, really hard to stay mad with Claudia plodding along looking miserable the whole damn time. He's giving her righteous silent treatment for not including him ever at all and _not _being mean for petty reasons. Right? Right.

But eventually they make it to the town and rather than miserable, Claudia just starts looking… worried. _Hunted. _Serious alarm bells are going off in Soren's head, but he doesn't have time to do more than think, _Aw, man, maybe I shouldn't've been so stubborn, _before something way bigger takes over their priorities.

"Is… is that a _dragon?_" Corvus asks, gaping. It's the first time Soren's seen him look anything other than all collected and Claudia-like. "All the way out here?

Soren turns to ask Claudia what they should do, but pauses when he finds her staring at it with… with something strange lighting up her face. She smiles for a split second, and then it disappears behind her Deputy Commander mask.

"We need to find out what the hell is going on here," she says, immediately locating one of the town's militia and striding over purposefully.

Even though Soren is still kind of mad at her, it's nice to see Claudia back to her usual self. The town's militia have obviously never been under the full force of Claudia's commanding deputy commander-ness, and it's hilarious to watch the poor guy shrink under each question.

"...A dragon has been patrolling your skies and you didn't even think to send word to the capital? You haven't come up with any kind of plan for taking care of it? For evacuating?"

"Well… it wasn't hurting anyone," the militiaman says, awkwardly.

Claudia sighs and rubs her temples. "We're at _war. _It can hardly be up to anything _good. _Where's your commander?"

"In the tower, I think." The militiaman gestures, but Soren hears the man muttering under his breath as he passes, "Nobody told _me _we were at war with every dragon and elf that passes through..."

_Border towns. _Soren shakes his head. _They really are loonies in the boonies. Hey, that rhymed! I should tell Claudia!_

Feeling more forgiving, he catches up to his sister. "So, dragon hunting? You got any ideas?"

Claudia glances at him out of the corner of her eye, relaxing a little. "A few. I already spotted a ballista at the top of their watchtower, but it's going to be hard to hit a dragon with it. We'll have to be smart."

Soren squints at the tower and sure enough, there's the old ballista. "Man, I knew I should've packed that griffon eye," he mutters.

Claudia gives him a weird look.

"What? I didn't expect anyone to be firing any arrows. Or ballistae."

"That is… so not what I was thinking, but never mind," Claudia says. "Have you got anything else up your sleeve? We'll need to bring it down outside the walls to avoid casualties."

Soren reminds himself to make a chapter in his book about taking down dragons. You know, for the ambitious dark mage. "I'm sure we can come up with something..."

_I always wanted to kill a dragon!_

* * *

The plan comes together in a short space of time. Soren's magic lets them bring the dragon down outside the walls, and Claudia's hand picked party of soldiers are able to make it out there and secure the dragon. Soren is already starting to make excited noises about all the ingredients he'll be able to get out of it. Who knew that dark magic meant you'd have to touch so many intestines?

She has no idea where Corvus went, but she suspects that he saw right through her when she ruled that no messages were to be sent out of town in case the dragon grew suspicious. He said some things while they were travelling together, whether she thought the princes would _really _be safe in Xadia…

It doesn't matter. Viren won't trust anything that General Amaya's man says anyway. She still has time to think about how to spin it… and he always complained about how rare dragon ingredients were! If she sends a cartload back to him, that's got to earn her some good will, right?

It just… It has to work out.

_Don't make me choose. _

Then lots of things all begin to happen and Claudia doesn't have time to think any more.

Callum's friend Rayla shows up, to free the dragon—but he was supposed to be far away by now—she parries Rayla's strikes, trying to see what's going on.

"Claudia, stop!"

"She's the one who attacked _me!"_ Claudia wants to roll her eyes, but the elf is as quick as lightning and she can't afford to take her eyes off her for too long.

If Callum came, did Ezran come too? Ezran, and the little baby dragon… if she could take the dragon back to Dad, that would be one thing she's done right—but if she takes the dragon Callum and Ezran won't have any reason to go to Xadia any more—

"Just… just stop!" Callum shouts.

But Rayla isn't listening to him, so Claudia can hardly listen to him either. She raises her shield as Rayla dodges in front of some rocks, accidentally backing herself into a corner. She's strong but fragile. If Claudia can hit her hard enough, then she'll have a moment to… something.

She raises her shield and slams it forward, only in that split second it's not the elf there, it's Callum. Claudia feels her heart skip a beat as he crashes backwards and falls heavily against the rock.

"Callum!" she and Rayla shout at the same time.

He doesn't move.

Rayla casts a look at the dragon and then tucks her swords away, rushing to Callum's side and looping one of his arms over her shoulder.

She has a moment to spare Claudia a venomous look.

_I didn't mean—_

"_Claudia!" _

She finds herself suddenly pushed aside, stumbling but not falling, and then she hears Soren cry out in pain.

The dragon. She forgot about the dragon. _Why isn't it dead? Soren—_

Just a glancing blow from the dragon's claws but the wound is already bleeding and the dragon is mad as hell. It must know that dark magic was used to bring it down. Soren has to roll away from another strike from its claws and the snarling jaws pursuing him.

Claudia hefts her shield and tightens her grip on her sword, taking a deep breath before pushing herself forward and catching another swing of the claws on her shield. She staggers under the weight of the blow, managing to steady herself at the last moment and swing the sword.

It's wildly off target—_the most vulnerable part of a dragon is its eyes; _she remembers her training—and only cuts off a part of the dragon's horn.

It roars in Claudia's face.

_Great, I just made it angry. _

She dodges the next blow but the one after rips the shield from her arm. Claudia hisses as something in her shoulder gives in a starburst of pain. The shield crashes into a rock with a sharp _clang, _deep scores in the metal.

Claudia jabs forward with her sword towards the dragon's eye, her other arm hanging uselessly at her side. She feels a surge of triumph when her sword finds its mark and the dragon _screams, _thick fluid seeping down its face.

Then a great _something _slams into her from behind, knocking all the wind out of her and sending her flying through the air. She rolls and tumbles, landing badly on her injured arm, and the pain is so intense for a moment that she can only see black. _Dragons have tails… stupid. _

She tries to remember how to breathe whilst grasping for her sword, but it's lost somewhere. The dragon screams again, loud and long and Claudia's ears _ache _with it, but she can still hear Soren shouting her name.

Claudia looks up to see the dragon eyeing her. She can feel the growl in its throat vibrating through the earth. She grits her teeth and hauls herself into a sitting position, but the dragon sniffs and turns its head away, clearly thinking her a threat no longer. Claudia isn't keen on going toe-to-toe with a dragon again so for a moment she's only filled with relief.

Until she sees the dragon turn its great head back towards Soren.

_No. No!_

She's lost her sword and her shield, but she sees Soren's pack, still lying against the rock where he left it.

Claudia could've been good at magic, once. She could've been a mage, just like Soren. And whatever else she is, she's certainly Viren's daughter.

She drags herself towards Soren's book and opens it at a random page.

* * *

Soren backs away from the dragon carefully, trying not to make any sudden movements. He's not really sure if dragons are beast-like enough for it to pounce on him if he tries to run, but Soren is definitely going to go with that explanation over telling people that his legs suddenly turned to jelly because it turns out dragons are actually really big, and have big teeth, and Claudia did you _have _to stab it in the eye because really that only makes it look worse—

He still has some tricks up his sleeve, so there's time to fulfil that dragon-slaying dream. He just has to remember that the herbs in his pocket have to be saved to use a healing spell on Claudia so he can't make a poison cloud to deal with the dragon. But he still has the snakes, and the jewel-like heart of a Diamond Troll and—_what the hell is Claudia doing._

She's in Soren's book, Soren's pack, holding one of the glowing venomworm tails. Her eyes are already glowing and Soren's heart stops. He knows what happens if you don't use them properly—the backlash of the poison—and he knows that Claudia won't know how to do it properly from his half-assed step-by-step guide in the book. "Claudia, don't! It's dangerous!"

Claudia turns to him—

In the moment of his distraction, the dragon snaps at him, and Soren barely leaps out of the way of its jaws in time. Claudia's face darkens and she focuses again on the spell book, mouthing the last few words…

Soren didn't think his senses were that advanced, but he _feels_ the moment that the magic gathers, surges—and then fizzles and sputters. Tiny lines of poison gas ooze along the ground, but they're weak and already dissipating by the time the dragon swings its tail and disperses them in a breath of wind. The conduit wasn't ready, so the magic didn't form properly. Most of the power in the spell turned back on—

Claudia seems confused, but Soren knows the signs. The veins in her left hand have already started to turn purple.

The dragon roars and Soren snarls back at it, whispering a few words and feeling the magic in his snake amulet come to life. A snake as thick as Soren's forearm leaps up and spits in the dragon's face. It lurches back, making a low, wounded noise in the back of its throat, giving Soren time to dart past it.

He remembers telling his sister, "It's an amulet, Claud, not a _bracelet."_ Just being a dumb brother again. His stomach drops out from underneath him. Yes, he's been a dumb brother for sure.

Claudia blinks as he settles next to her, already looking woozy. He wants to yell at her for being stupid and reckless, or maybe to make a joke, something like, 'That's my job, dummy.' But his throat is closed up tight suddenly and he can't say a word.

"'M sorry," she mumbles. "Was trying to help… didn't need my help… stupid."

"You're not stupid, stupid," Soren says. He wants his voice to sound strong and certain, but it has a waver in it anyway. He can't escape the fact that Claudia just dosed herself with one of the strongest poisons dark magic has learned how to make. "We'll just… we'll get you fixed up. It'll be fine."

"Okay," Claudia agrees, her eyes unfocused.

Like she thinks Soren can fix this. Like she thinks Soren knows _how. _Like Soren didn't tell Dad, 'whatever, if I cast it right every time, I won't need to know how to cure the poison, will I?' Like she's not going to—

The dragon roars and everything bubbling up inside Soren bursts out.

"_Will you just shut up?" _he bellows at it.

The dragon shrinks back, single eye going wide. Almost like its surprised, even if it is one of Xadia's barbaric dragons.

"Can't you see my sister is hurt? I don't care about _you. _If you just left the town alone, this wouldn't have happened at all! Stupid dragon!"

_Stupid Soren,_ Soren thinks. A dragon is just a smart animal. What does he even expect it to do? Say sorry? But it's just all not fair and he has to yell at _something _because he can't go back and yell at himself for not taking Dad's lessons seriously or for writing his stupid book with its stupid instructions that only work if you know—

The dragon lowers it head and draws back. Soren blinks and relaxes his clenched fists. Just for a moment, he thinks the dragon might just actually up and leave.

But then its lips pull back again in a snarl, it growls, and Soren sighs and mentally runs through his catalogue of spells. He has to get Claudia help as soon as possible, so—

The dragon swings its head around, away from Soren, a rumble in the back of its throat. He blinks in confusion until he sees the figures of Ezran and Zym, looking tiny by comparison. Zym makes some kind of energetic squeak and the dragon growls back. Zym lets out another high-pitched noise, and the dragon breathes in a way that almost sounds like a sigh.

Then it opens its great wings and leaps into the sky, and flies away.

_Is that it? _Soren thinks. He just feels kind of dull and exhausted. Which is… a lame way to end a fight with a dragon.

Ezran runs away with Zym, following the path that Callum and Rayla took.

"Wait," Soren shouts. "Wait, Ez—!"

He finds himself nearly pulled over by something yanking on his cloak. _Claudia. _

"Don't," she says. Her voice is raspy and weak and there's a sheen of swear on her face, her veins look ropey and swollen, but her grip is strong. "Soren, don't."

"What are you talking about, sis?" He gestures after Ezran. "If they would just talk to us—"

"They can't come home," Claudia wheezes.

"Why not?"

"Dad wants them dead," she says.

Soren freezes. "What?"

Claudia's eyes roll back in her head and she seems not to hear him. "Boy kings are weak… that's what he said."

_What?_

"It's for Katolis," she says, looking into the distance. "But I _couldn't, _Soren. They had to… they had to..."

"They had to go to Xadia," Soren murmurs.

Claudia smiles softly and lets go, slumping to the floor. She needs help, she needs medical attention.

For just one second, Soren stands and stares, trying to fit the pieces of the world back together in a way that makes sense.

Then he hauls Claudia over his shoulder and starts the walk back to town.


	4. Chapter 4

"_I'm sorry, I've never seen anything like this before. We might be able to slow down the spread of the poison, but..."_

What did he expect? Soren knows it's a rare magical item and a rare magical poison and even doing magic is rare to begin with. So why did his heart sink all the way to the floor when the healer said that? Why?

If he'd just learned how to make the antidote spell, it would be fine. But no, he had to be all 'Dad can do it perfect and doesn't need that so me neither, yeah'.

_I didn't know Claudia would do something like try to use magic! I thought she didn't even like magic!_

It's not wrong, but the thought in his head also sounds whiny and childish. Like studying under Dad years and years ago and always saying, 'But I don't _get it!'_ Not getting it wasn't an excuse for being bad at magic, you just had to work harder at it. He'd learnt that the hard way by looking at pretentious book after pretentious book when trying to decipher all the dumb stuff in a _first _set of books.

Maybe the problem was that he look it for granted. Thought he was the best now because he learnt what most of the big words meant. Thought he knew better than everyone, than Dad—

"_Dad wants them dead."_

Soren gets tired of sitting by Claudia's bedside, hearing the echoes of the last thing she said to him over and over, so he goes for a walk.

Claudia is dying. He should be there. But she already looks so lifele—_unconscious, _that staying there seems… morbid.

Aren't people supposed to say meaningful last words and stuff when they're about to die? Like, tearful goodbyes, tell Mom I loved her, tell David that he's an idiot and I was totally right – you know, the important stuff. But all Claudia did was make sure Soren knew the princes would die if they came home.

Stupid Claudia. Never thinking of herself.

Now Soren can't take them home, obviously, because that was _literally _her dying wish, even if a bit of Soren still thinks it can't possibly true, that Dad would never—but then Claudia would never lie, either.

Anyway, now that she said that, Soren can't even throw himself into searching for the princes, so the only thing he has to do is… to sit in this small town and wait for Claudia to die.

And he can't even do that right.

_Is this what Dad meant when he said you can't take a shortcut? _

Part of Soren wants to ask him and another part wants to spit in his face. It's all wibbly and emotional-y and Soren doesn't like it. He's almost relieved when a vicious banther leaps out of a dark alleyway, even though he has so, _so_ many questions about what the heck it's doing there in the first place—

Oh, Ezran is riding it. Well, that's also a distraction.

_...Wait, what? _

Turns out that the little jelly-tart-stealing prince—king—can also talk to animals. Soren is so tired that he just sort of shrugs and says, "Okay. That's cool."

"Yeah, it is cool," Ezran says.

They sit in silence for a minute.

"Is Claudia going to be okay?" Ezran asks.

"I don't know," Soren answers. The lie is heavy on his tongue.

Ez doesn't sound like a kid when he sighs heavily. "I just… I only just found out about Dad, so it doesn't seem real yet, you know? But I… I don't want anyone else to die. Maybe it sounds really obvious to say that, but I really don't. The war is all about people keep hurting each other, over and over, and it just doesn't stop."

He rubs his eyes suddenly. Soren awkwardly pats him on the shoulder, feeling a bit useless.

"I'm sorry Claudia got hurt," Ez whispers.

"I'm sorry we attacked you guys too, I guess," Soren manages to say. "It seems stupid now."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He looks at Soren with those stupid big eyes. "I can send… some… some medicine or something when I get back home!"

Soren supposes there mustn't be that much colour in his face from the stress or whatever, if Ezran doesn't notice all the blood drain out of it. "You're going back?"

Ezran nods. "I am. I feel like I have to, you know? I can't just ignore everything that's going on… I have to do what I can to stop the war."

"I guess that's what you're supposed to do," Soren says.

What is _he _supposed to do? Soren's never really had a role, a job, not like Claudia – everyone liked Claudia, talented, hard working, smart. And then Soren, learning magic for… for what? To be like Dad, but if he wants to be like Dad, he could just push Ezran off the top of this tower. Don't need any fancy magic for _that._

"You know magic, Soren," Ez says, "what do _you _think Claudia needs?"

"There's an antidote spell, but I don't know it," Soren admits.

"Well, maybe you can work it out!" Ezran gives him a small smile. "I always see you reading those books! ...And complaining about them… but you must know a lot! Maybe there's a different spell that can help Claudia!"

Maybe…

_Dad said no shortcuts. But Dad is stupid, and maybe also kind of… not so good._

What do antidote spells do? They directly counter poison by reversing the components. It's the easiest way to cure poison but you also need very specific ingredients, sometimes even from the same creature. _Who could be bothered to get all that stuff ready? _Soren told Dad. Dad scoffed, but maybe he was actually right…

What does Claudia need? To be better. _Better. _The body can purge a weak poison all by itself, even if you're going to be real sick for ages. So Claudia's body just needs to be stronger. Magic can do that. Needs young, youthfulness, _potential, _take the potential and transform it into magic and increase your potential. What's the strongest strengthening spell that Soren knows? Not enough. But if you take the theory and apply it up…

It won't take in one sitting, the poison is too strong for that. But who said it had to be done in one sitting? Why can't he just _keep_ doing it?

"Soren? Are you okay?" Ezran asks. "You got this funny look on your face."

"I got it!" Soren grins, which he knows probably looks stupid and soppy. Whatever. He finally knows what he's supposed to do, so it's okay just this once. "I know how to help Claudia!"

Soren doesn't know if he can trust Dad again, but he can trust Claudia. And the reason Claudia hasn't been sharing with him is because he needs to be _better. _But if he can do this, he can save Claudia, _and _prove that they can be equals. Claudia won't need to do everything by herself any more.

_But where do I find a… oh! _

"Can you ask your animal pals to find me a milk fruit tree?"

* * *

"_Ez?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You know… make sure you don't trust anyone when you get home. Except your aunt. Some… people think the war is really important… they won't care that you're the king if you get in their way."_

"_Huh? Like who?"_

"_Like… like lots of people. Some of them might be closer to the throne than you think."_

"_Uh, okay. I'll be careful."_

(Even now, Soren still thinks of it as a betrayal – as Dad's betrayal and his. _How can you make me choose like that, Dad? Ezran is just a kid!_

_Don't make me and Claudia protect you from yourself._)

* * *

When Claudia sank into darkness, she was nearly overwhelmed, but still, strangely—relieved. It was out of her hands now. No more impossible choices. Let the rock and the hard place decide things between themselves.

Her dreams are disturbed and violent. She remembers her first kill as vividly and guiltily as she ever has, years later. Sometimes, she dreams of Callum's death by her own hands, Ezran's. She dreams that _she_ is the mage, strong and capable in all the ways Dad wanted, but Soren carries a sword and is also privy to his secrets – some of them, anyway. She walks lighter, freer than _this_ Claudia has felt since she was a child.

Yet when she relives, again, the memory of Soren being attacked by the dragon, in her dream the mage's tome becomes a shield and she stands as a guardian in her armour, as usual.

Magic is powerful and wonderful, and the freedom provided by ignorance is compelling, but it couldn't be a protector—a wall, _the shield—_in the same way she could. The problem is only that there are too many people to protect. Callum and Ezran and Harrow (his memory) and Dad (his wishes) and all of Xadia—too much for her shield to bear alone.

The dream fades. Sluggishly, Claudia stirs to life. Her eyelids are glued shut, and she has to blink a few times to clear her eyes. The roaring pain she'd experienced when she fell under is little more than a dull ache.

"You're awake!"

"Soren?" Something about his face doesn't look quite right… Claudia squints and then gasps. _Like Dad—_ "Your hair! What—"

Soren waves away her words, but Claudia still finds her eyes drawn towards the streak of grey by his temples. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're going to be okay."

His face is soft and tired, and for a moment she can read all the exhaustion and worry he must have borne since—since how long?

But after a moment he clears his throat and makes an effort to look more Sorenly. "You can say thanks at any time. It was hard work, you know!" He pokes her in the ribs, gently. "So don't go messing with dark magic again, okay? I guess I can teach you if you _really_ want, but it's dangerous. And you have to call me 'Professor Soren'."

"Sorry, Professor," Claudia says, before she can't hold her laughter back any longer. She can't remember the last time she laughed so freely. She barely even feels any strain in her muscles, and flexes her fingers in wonder. "But… you fixed me?"

"Not yet—you need more, uh, treatment but—"

Claudia smiles as he started to explain the magic he'd used and what still had to be done. Just like she thought all those years ago—Soren has become really impressive.

Her shield alone isn't enough for everyone. But maybe it didn't need to be, any more.


End file.
